Government through the Ministry of health has distributed more than 6 million face masks out of the required 30 million.
The 6 million have been distributed to people in 20 districts of; Gulu, Moyo, Amuru, Kyotera, Buikwe, Ntungamo, Soroti, Arua, Adjumani, Kumi Isingiro, Masaka, Mbarara, Yumbe, Hoima, Rakai, Busia, Tororo, Kakumiro, and Lira.
On Wednesday, the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng while appearing before Parliament’s Health Committee presented an update of the distribution exercise.
In May, President Yoweri Museveni announced that government would distribute free facemasks to all Ugandans above 6 years as a pre-condition of lifting the Covid-19 restrictions. The president then said that the distribution was to start from border districts which are prone to the virus that the rest of the country.
The Ministry of Health drew a budget of Shillings 81 billion to buy and distribute the face masks but Dr Aceng told legislators that although 6.31 million face masks have so far been distributed to Ugandans, the Ministry is yet to receive more funds from the Ministry of Finance.
She also said that the Finance Ministry had committed to releasing funds to her Ministry in the first quarter of the current financial year 2020/2021. Minister Aceng added that the manufacturers of the face masks are yet to be paid.
Her statement followed queries from MPs about the districts that have so far been covered, the quality of masks and the number of masks distributed. Uganda has a total number of 1,043 COVID-19 cases.